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Most probably all of you have faced the problem when the filament clogs in the extruder. At first glance, we may suspect clogging, but if the problem can be solved simply by replacing the filament, the cause was the uneven diameter of the filament. In other words, the diameter is larger than allowed.
The other common error is the opposite: the printer works perfectly, however, on the object you can observe lack of material due to the smaller than required filament diameter.
During the production of filaments, it is very important that the diameter of the filament should be even at all times. The diameter must be within tolerance (+ -0.05mm) in all directions and ovality is not acceptable.
At Filaticum, we place great emphasis on producing filaments with even and exact diameter. We use state-of-the-art, two-axis optical diameter gauges on our both production lines, so we can track not only the diameter of the filament from one direction, but also its ovality. Based on the data provided by the measuring devices, we continuously adjust the parameters of the filament production.
The measuring devices take 10 measurements per second, so that any out-of-tolerance sections can be continuously monitored and detected.
The diameters are also regularly checked with hand tools and calipers.
Of course, with the utmost care, even on the most precise production line failures could happen, that is why we re-measure the filaments when rewinding them from large spool for the final packaging size spools. In this phase 2 devices monitor the diameter of the filaments. The first is a laser optical diameter meter, the second is a mechanical caliber template.
The optical meter transmits the measured data to a computer, which continuously saves these data in a cloud data storage.
Our regular customers may have already noticed that the date of production is written on each spool. With these data, we can retrospectively make a query on the diameters’ data along the entire length of the roll and recall the filament in case of an error. We give access to our partners to the measurement reports, so they can check the measured data at any time.
As a final step, the filament passes through a hole drilled in a 5 mm metal sheet, the hole is machined with a hundredth of a degree accuracy, son in case of an incorrect diameter or even a small clump, the printing filament cannot pass through the hole, and the winding stops physically.